Electric switch



W. J. KELLEIGH ELECTRIC SWITCH Dec. 28, 1954 Filed May 13, 1952 ELECTRIC SWITCH Waldo I. Kelleigh, Wayland, Mass., assignor to General Control Company, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application May 13, 1952, serial No. 281,524

1g claims. (c1. zoo-16s) i This` invention relates to improvements in electric switches and component parts thereof.

v The principal objectsl of the invention are' to provide electric switches of the single or multiple spring blade type lwith an` improved actuator and blade support frame of such design that switchesv incorporating it can be manufactured with marked economy in both material costs and assembling techniques without sacrificing in any way, -and indeed enhancing their durability, lightness and adaptability-to various uses.

'.In accordance with the invention, a switch has a hollow cylindrical portion or barrel, within which can be fastened, for example pivotally supported, an actuator of appropriate construction, for example with a manually or otherwise controlled lever or plunger projecting from one, and arblade deector projecting from the other side, fastened to a blade holder or frame for lnounting the blades in a position to be acted upon by the deector by lateral deviation, wedge action, or otherwise. holder or frame are independent u'nits which can be assembled by suitable inter-engagement. In' a practical embodiment, the frame has a at ring like portion having a circular hole which ts the barrel to which it is secured by a pair of spacedlanges formed integral with the barrel. The frame ring has a pair of legs formed integral with the plate and projecting. from it downwardly in essential alignment with the barrel. The legs terminate in a plate for mounting switch blades orsprings with their ends Aextending towards the actuator. The blade holder orframe according to the yinvention can befdescribed, independently of the barrel as a tlat ring lplate from which stem a pair of spacedylegs arranged substantially/.diametriically opposite the center of' the plate, substantially perpendicular to the plane of `thering, and joined with their ends at a plate thatis parallel to the plane of the legs and perpendicular to the ring. The blank fromwhich the frame or holder is made' is stamped out of sheet metal with its contour outlining one semicircular portion of the ring, tangentially thereto the legs and at the apex of the legs the rectangular plate. A circular hole is formed in the blank: concentrically with thel semicircular ring portion and an .approximately rtriangularhole is formed to deline the inner contour of the legs in such a manner that `the legs can be bent at diametrically opposite p oints of the: ring;` in Va vpreferred embodiment, this'is accomplished by reducingthe outer ring diameter within the' roughly triangular hole, by .approximately the. width of the legs. a

Other objects, ,aspects and-features will appear, in addition to those contained in the above statement of objects and nature of the invention, from the following description of ,a typical practical embodiment thereofillustrating its novel characteristics. This description refers to a drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a switch according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the switch according to Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical diametrical section to larger scale through the switch barrel on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, with the actuator and the ends of the switch springs in elevation;

Fig. 4 is an axonometric view of the frame;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the blank from which the frame is made; and

Fig. 6 is a section, similar to Fig. 3, of the actuator tube prior to assembly.

The barrel and bladel United States PatentO The switch now to be described by way of example has a frame 10, contact blades 12 and an acutator assembly 14.

`The actuator assembly 14 consists of a tube or barrel 16 within which is pivotally supported the actuator lever 17, the latter having a handle 18 projectingupwardly through one end of the barrel 16 and a deflector lever 19 with an insulated head 20 projecting from the opposite end of the barrel. The handle and deector elements stem from opposite sides of a ball 22 which is diametrically pierced and mounted on a pin 24 which extends transversely of the barrel about midway between its ends. The end of the barrel from which projects the delector with head 20 has a radially extending flange 26. Below the flange the barrel is reduced in diameter to provide a neck 28, as shown in Fig. 6. At the other side of ange 26, the barrel 16 is provided with an outside thread 29.. The frame 10 has legs 38, a contact mounting plate or platform 40, and an actuator mounting ring collar 32 (Fig. 4) with a circular hole 34 adapted to lit over the neck 28 in the condition shown in Fig. 6, so that the ring may be seated ilat against the ange 26. The ring 32 is made fast against the flange 26 by bending the rim of the neck 28 over the inside edge of ring 32, for example by rolling, peening or otherwise upsetting the edge 36 over the ring, to form a lip which engages the ring marginally of the hole 34 thus anchoring the frame between the faces of the flanges 26 and 36, to the actuator barrel, as shown in Fig. 3. The ring 32 can be provided with an ear 32.5 for engagement with a slot 32.6 of the barrel 16. The pair of diametrically opposed legs 38 are formed integral with the ring 32 and project at right angles to the plane of the ring plate 32. The legs 38 converge and terminate in the substantially rectangular mounting plate 40 which is provided with elongated holes 42. The plate 40 supports contact and terminal blades 44 some of which are designed and arranged to be acted upon by the actuator head 20. In the illustrated embodiment there are two pairs of floating blades 44, one pair at each side of the legs 38, and actuator blades 46, 47 associated with respective pairs.` The contact blades and the actuator blades are made fast to the mounting plate 40 with suitable insulating spacers 48 therebetween, by means of screws 50 which pass through the blades and the elongated holes 42in the plate. The deector head 20 is located between the deflector blades 46, 47 and by tilting the lever 18 may be caused to operate the contacts. In the present embodiment, the deflector blade 46 hasa bent end 52 of 'such shape and inclination that when the at end portion of the deflector head is placed thereagainst it will retain its position thus holding the switch in one of its positions. The other position is maintained only so long as'the handle 18 is deflected. Instead of using a laterally moving deflector lever` as above described, a longitudinally moving push pull control plunger can be used for wedge like insertion of an insulated head between the switch springs and deviation thereof.

y,The above described elongated holes 42 permit in very simple, convenient, and hence labor saving and inexpensive rnanner, to position the contact assembly relatively to the actuator assembly, to adjust the relative position of the contact elements, .and to provide for proper locking pressure. An important aspect of this switch construction resides inthe blade supporting frame 10 which as more specilically illustrated in Fig. 4, has the form of .a one piece unit adaptedto be attached to the barrel by mechanical inter-engagement therewith. As described above, the frame 10 has a flat generally circular portion 32 consisting of two semicircular portions 32.1 and 32.2 having a common inside edge constituting the hole or opening 34 which is substantially equal to the outside diameter of the neck 28 of the barrel. The semicircular portion 32.1 is radially wider than the semicircular portion 32.2 and hence has at its ends diametrically opposed shoulders 37. A pair of legs 38 are formed integral with the shoulders and extend downwardly from these shoulders 37 as transition points, substantially perpendicular to the plane of the plate. The legs converge and terminate in an anchor plate 40. As thus constructed with the legs integral with the plate, a very rigid and yet lightweight construction is provided, the

ring 32, the legs 38, and the mounting plate 40 being joined without soldering or welding or mechanical fastening.

The frame is initially blanked or stamped out of sheet metal in quantities, rapidly and economically and without requiring special processing other than to bend the leg forming portions at right angles to the part that is to be fastened to the barrel. As illustrated in Fig. 5, the blank for making the frame is in the form of a flat plate having a substantially triangular portion 56 with the base of which is formed integral a semicircular portion 58 and with the apex of which is formed integral a substantially rectangular portion 40. The circular hole 34 is formed in the plate so as to be substantially concentric with the edge of the portion 58 and a substantially triangular opening 60 is formed in the triangular portion with its side parallel to the sides of the portion 56 thereby forming the legs 3S. The circular hole 34 is divided from the triangular opening by a semicircular web which forms the narrower semicircular portion 32.2 of the ring 32. The rectangular plate or tab is formed integral with the extremities of the leg and has in it the above-mentioned elongated bolt or screw holes 42. After the blank has been made in the foregoing manner the legs are bent at the shoulders 37, that is substantially diametrically opposite each other on the center line of the hole 34 to a position at right angles to the plane of the ring plate 32.

In a practical embodiment, the blanks are stamped from .062" steel plate, cold rolled and nickel plated. It is to be understood, however, that the kind of sheet metal used can be varied within wide limits depending upon availability, cost and particular purpose. Moreover, the blanks can be made ot sheet plastic in place of metal. After being cut from the sheet material they can be shaped according to conventional methods, depending on the type of plastic material used, so as to bend the leg portions into nal position` As mentioned above, the barrel or tube 16 of the switch is preferably threaded on its outside to accommodate mounting means such as a knurled nut 62. The switch can thus be clamped to a panel or other support by insert ing the threaded portion of the barrel through a hole in the support from one side, placing the nut on the projecting portion at the opposite side and pulling up the ange 26 against the panel on the other side, with the ear 32.5 in the slot 32.6 preventing relative turning of ring 32 and barrel 16.

lt should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that this invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

l claim:

1. A switch assembly comprising a frame having a ring collar, a mounting plate and leg means integral with collar and plate and extending at an angle from the collar; a cylindrical metallic actuator barrel having flanges on either side of a neck engaging said collar on the neck; contact means mounted on said plate; and actuator means movably mounted on said barrel and extending through said ring collar towards said contact means.

2. A switch assembly according to claim 1 wherein said anges are formed integral with said barrel one by initially permanent shaping and the other by bending the end of the barrel radially upward over the rim of said collar.

3. A switch. assembly according to claim l wherein said ring collar and said neck have inter-engaging ear and slot means to prevent relative turning thereof.

4. A switch assembly according to claim 1 wherein said collar has an inside diameter corresponding substantially to the outside diameter of said barrel between .said actuator means comprises a pivot pin set intotthe wall of said barrel, and an actuating lever and a blade detlector stemming from opposite sides of said pin and extending from opposite sides of said barrel, with the* deflector adapted to engage said contact means,

7. A switch assembly according to claim 1 whereim said plate has elongated holes for fastening said Contact l,

means thereto whereby adjustment of the contact means is provided.

8. A switch frame comprising a flat essentially circular collar plate with two complemental outside arcs of ditferent diameters and a pair of legs integral with the plate stemming therefrom with one end of each leg at an angle to the plane of the plate, the difference in diameter of said arcs being essentially equal to the width of said legs, and a platform integrally joining the other ends of the legs. i

9. A switch frame comprising a flat essentially circular collar plate with two complemental outside arcs of different diameters and a pair of legs integral with the plate stemming therefrom with one end of each leg at an angle to the plane of the plate, the diterence in diameter of said arcs being essentially equal to the width of said legs, and a platform integrally joining the other ends of the legs, said legs and said platform being substantially perpendicular to said plane of the plate and substantially diametrically opposite each other.

l0. A switch frame comprising an essentially ring shaped at plate having a circular opening with integral essentially semicircular portions of different outside radii concentric with and bounding said opening, the semicircular portion of greater width. having diametrically located shoulders jutting from the portion of lesser width; a pair of legs integral with and stemming from the shoulders, converging substantially perpendicular to the plane ot the plate; and a flat tab with elongated holes joining the converging ends of the legs.

11. A blank for making a switch frame comprising an essentially ring shaped portion with a circular hole and an outer boundary essentially defined by two semicircles concentric with said hole, two legs converging from the transition points between said semicircles, and a plate connecting the legs oppositely of said points, said smaller semicircular boundary, the insides of said legs and said plate dening an essentially triangular opening.

12. A blank according to claim 11 wherein a rectangular tab plate is formed integral with the apex of the triangular portion.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 860,874 Knight July 23, 1907 1,109,919 Gilson Sept. 8, 1914 1,963,722 Smith June 19, 1934 2,290,453 Stehlik July 2l, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS j Number Country Date 810,990 France Jan.9, 1937 

